Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,     nor be weary when reproved by him.7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.HEBREWS 12:1-11There is a danger that you will mis-live - that despite all your activity, despite all the pleasant diversions you might have enjoyed while alive, you will end up living a bad life. There is, in other words, a danger that when you are on your deathbed, you will look back and realize that you wasted your one chance at living. Instead of spending your life pursuing something genuinely valuable, you squandered it because you allowed yourself to be distracted by the various baubles life has to offer.WILLIAM IRVINETherefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,HEBREWS 12:1GOD HAS A RACE FOR ME TO RUN24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 271 CORINTHIANS 9:24-277 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?GALATIANS 5:77 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.2 TIMOTHY 4:7GOD’S RACE FOR ME REQUIRES TRAINING2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.JAMES 1:2-413 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.JAMES 1:13-15GOD USES PAIN TO TRAIN US // THE ENEMY USES PAIN TO TEMPT US3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ROMANS 5:3-4TRAINED FOR ENDURANCE // TEMPTED TO COMPARISON“Comparison is the thief of joy”THEODORE ROOSEVELTEndurance: bearing hardship; STAYING POWER.TRAINED FOR CHARACTER // TEMPTED TO CORRUPTIONCharacter: conduct that conforms to an accepted standard of right and wrong.Corruption: dishonestyTRAINED FOR HOPE // TEMPTED TO FEAR“FEAR IS FAITH IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION.”Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, “THROW OFF” (SANCTIFICATION)“LOOK UP” (ABIDING)“RUN WITH” (COMMUNITY)

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